Twitter Reactions: Sri Lanka hold on to a fighting draw at Kotla, India seal series

It was a rather anti-climax ending to the Test series between India and Sri Lanka. Much against all expectations, the visiting side showed great character with the bat to settle for a draw in the final Test at the Feroze Shah Kotla, Delhi. Over the last five days in the match, there was a lot of brouhaha over the things on which the players had very little control.

The smog dominated the news headlines more than the career-best majestic double ton from the Indian captain Virat Kohli. Amidst all this, team Sri Lanka managed to carve out a mini victory for themselves in the match. When they arrived in to the tour, they were expected to be whitewashed by the Indian team. This was largely due to their tourwash numbers in the reverse fixtures earlier this season.

However, the experienced batsmen of the Sri Lankan team took responsibility to ensure that their first innings did not crumble like ten pins. Also, the youngsters stepped up in the second innings to avoid a defeat. All in all, the team effort helped them avoid a 2-0 scoreline in the series. For the hosts, they would be happy with a series win.

But the scoreline of 1-0 is something that Virat Kohli’s men will find hard to digest. Considering the fact that they were minutes away from a turnaround win in Kolkata, and a few good deliveries away from a win in Delhi, the team will have a hard pill to swallow as they regroup for the limited overs.

Talking about the match, team India posted a mammoth 536/7 in their first innings before Kohli was forced into a premature declaration due to Sri Lanka’s antics. Murali Vijay and Kohli scored tons for the hosts. In response, tons from Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews kept the Indian team at bay. Some quick runs from India in the second innings saw Sri Lanka getting a target of 410.

The target was never achievable but they always would have taken a draw with both hands. Dhananjaya de Silva’s ton, combined with the grit of Roshen Silva and Niroshan Dickwella saw the match end in a draw.

Here is how Twitterati reacted to the game: